Castle Couch is a criticism and opinion focused videogame website formed in 2013. Our goal is to poke, prod, caress, and otherwise stir conversation about videogames through essays, critiques, and other multimedia adventures. Games have merit, we are deeply interested in the ones that intrigue, inspire, or entertain.

Valve has changed the Early Access guideline for developers looking to sell their unfinished games on Steam. The service --trying to ape Minecraft’s successful business model-- has become more and more unreliable with many games never even coming out of the 'Early Access' phase. By the same account, money made during the 'Early Access' phase has been substantial, meaning that some developers --consciously or not-- have ostensibly been selling promises and nothing more. It should be stressed that some developers have been using the service wonderfully, releasing fully playable games and adding features to them frequently. Also, with Double Fine front and center of the controversies with Early Access (thanks to Spacebase DF-9), their new Early Access game Massive Chalice seems to be on the right path. There’s value to the system, finally.

Castle Couch

Essays and Conversations about Games

Castle Couch is a Montreal-based criticism and opinion focused videogame website formed in 2013. Our goal is to poke, prod, caress, and otherwise stir conversation about videogames. Games have merit, we are deeply interested in the ones that intrigue, inspire, or entertain.